


A Helping Hand

by calliopecrash



Series: Solangelo Week 2020 [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson), Camp Half-Blood Infirmary, M/M, Solangelo Week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:53:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24856396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calliopecrash/pseuds/calliopecrash
Summary: Solangelo Week 2020, Day 2: Infirmary.Nico never thought that a child of the underworld would be a good fit for an infirmary, but it turns out he has a valuable skill to offer.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo & Will Solace, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: Solangelo Week 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1798315
Comments: 3
Kudos: 166
Collections: Solangelo Week 2020





	A Helping Hand

After his own three days in the infirmary following the battle with Gaea, nobody was more surprised than Nico himself when the son of Hades shyly offered to help out there. Of course, the gesture _might_ have been very, very _slightly_ related to his growing crush on a certain blonde head medic, but nobody had to know that.

Mostly, he just handled the small, mundane but useful tasks to help make things easier for the actual healers: rolling bandages, taking inventory, and bringing Will the occasional snack when things got hectic. (If Nico had to stoop to agreeing to loan the Stoll brothers the occasional animated skeleton rodent in order to acquire a stash of Will’s favourite obscure flavour of crisps, well again, nobody had to know that.) To his surprise, Nico found that he actually quite enjoyed helping out in the infirmary even when Will _wasn’t_ around. Austin and Kayla both treated him kindly (“any friend of Will’s is a friend of ours!”, they’d declared with matching Apollo-esque grins), and it made him feel more at home at Camp Half-Blood when he had something productive to do, and was in the company of other people - even sons of Ares who turned out to be the biggest wimps on the planet when they were injured, and daughters of Aphrodite who, to his utmost embarrassment, brazenly declared that Nico had “gotten hot” now that he was recovering from his experiences in Tartarus and starting to fill out and regain his natural olive complexion.

Sometimes, when the infirmary was quiet, Will would take him aside and teach him a particular healing skill like how to apply a nectar-based salve to lava wall burns, or how to wrap a sprained ankle. Nico picked up the techniques quickly, and the other campers seemed surprisingly undisturbed by the thought of having their ailments treated by the prince of the underworld, but Nico also knew that he wasn’t really cut out to be an actual healer. Not like Will, whose mere presence seemed to have a healing effect on even the most gravely injured campers. But he was content knowing that he could at least be a useful helper, and that Will enjoyed having him there.

It was only after the particularly disastrous arrival of some new campers that Nico discovered he had so much more to offer the infirmary beyond rolling bandages and keeping Will company.

‘Austin, I need you to prep the surgery room, NOW!’ Will shouted. There was a clear sense of urgency in his tone, but his voice remained steady and clear. ‘Kayla, Malcolm from Athena cabin is gonna stitch up Noah’s leg so you can focus on on his broken shoulder. Nico, come with me, and grab some more of that salve. Have you got the nectar and the box of clean syringes?’ The half-conscious girl in Will’s arms shuddered and moaned, but Nico couldn’t tell if it was from the pain of her injuries, or the prospect of having needles stuck into her. He nodded vigorously and followed Will into the back room of the infirmary.

Austin was just finishing setting up a tray of medical equipment on a cart beside the surgery cot, and Will gently laid the injured demigod down on the top of the starched white sheets. Her eyes were wide with fear, which was unsurprising considering there was a broken arrow sticking out of her collarbone, and an enormous bleeding gash down the side of her torso. Will’s threadbare _Surf Barbados_ t-shirt was covered in her blood.

‘You’re going to be okay, Angie, don’t worry,’ Will told her soothingly as Nico filled a syringe with nectar and handed it to him. ‘I’m a son of Apollo, remember? The god of healing? You’re just gonna feel a tiny pinch in a moment, and then there won’t be any more pain.’

The girl - Angie - nodded weakly, a ghost of a smile tugging on the corner of her lips. Will deftly stuck the syringe in her arm, and within seconds she was asleep.

They set to work.

Will used as much of his healing magic as he could to close the gash on her torso, then finished the job with regular stitches and bandages. Nico was transfixed by the son of Apollo’s hands as he worked. His movements were so swift and steady, yet his touch was clearly gentle. Even removing the broken arrow, there was no hint of a tremor or hesitation.

Nico stayed by his side the entire time Will was healing Angie, handing him equipment as requested and keeping an eye on the injured girl to make sure the anaesthetic wasn’t starting to wear off too soon. When finally they were finished, the first thing Nico did was grab Will a bottle of gatorade from the infirmary fridge, noticing how raw his voice was now from singing healing hymns.

‘Drink,’ he ordered.

Will complied without argument, and drained the entire bottle. He looked exhausted, Nico noticed. Will normally had a light, healthy tan, but right now he looked as pale as Nico himself was, and his blue eyes were bleary.

‘I’m going to sleep here tonight,’ he told Nico, with an unspoken _‘and don’t try to talk me out of it’_. ‘Just in case.’

Nico nodded, then hesitated.

‘Do you…’ he began, awkwardly. ‘Do you want me to stay too?’

Immediately, he kicked himself mentally for offering. He was sure Will would say there was no need to, and he’d just set himself up for rejection. But to his surprise, Will’s expression noticeably brightened, and he nodded.

‘I mean, if it’s not too inconvenient for you?’ He replied hopefully. Nico wondered if it was just wishful thinking on his part, or if Will really was blushing. ‘I don’t really want to be alone right now, to be honest.’

Nico understood. As calm and collected as Will always seemed on the surface, he knew that being the camp’s head medic took a huge emotional toll on the son of Apollo. It made sense that he’d want some company after treating new campers with particularly serious and stressful injuries.

Nico made himself comfortable on one of the empty cots while Will disappeared into the infirmary bathroom to wash up. When he returned he was shirtless, having left his bloodstained t-shirt to soak overnight, and Nico quickly averted his gaze, his face growing hot. Now was _not_ an appropriate time to be noticing what a nice body Will had.

When he finally dared to look up again, Will was wearing a clean scrubs shirt and crawling into the cot opposite Nico’s.

‘Thanks for staying, Neeks,’ he said with a gentle smile.

‘It’s fine, Solace. And don’t call me Neeks,’ he chided, even though deep down he actually was quite fond of the nickname - when it was coming from Will, at least. He suspected Will realised that too, or else he’d have stopped calling him that months ago.

‘Sure thing, Death Boy,’ Will retorted playfully. Nico buried his face in his pillow to hide his growing smile.

‘Go to sleep, Sunshine.’

‘Sunshine…’ Will murmured, smiling softly to himself. ‘I like that one.’

* * * * *

When Nico woke up again it was still dark, and Will was softly snoring in the cot opposite him. But despite the seeming peacefulness of the infirmary in that moment, Nico could tell immediately that something was very wrong. There was a strong aura of death in the atmosphere. He forced himself to focus, to hone in on the aura’s origin, and realised after a moment that it was Angie, the new camper that Will had been working so hard to save the previous evening.

‘Will!’ He hissed. He scrambled out of his cot and shook the healer’s shoulder roughly. ‘Will!’

The son of Apollo jerked awake immediately, looking disoriented for a fleeting moment before his eyes met Nico’s.

‘It’s Angie, the new camper,’ Nico explained quickly. ‘There’s an aura of death around her…it’s strong, Will. I…’ his voice faltered.

Will was already on his feet, not even bothering to slip his flip-flops on as he grabbed Nico’s arm and rushed them across the room to the bed Angie was recovering in.

She was still sleeping, and looked so peaceful that for a moment Nico wondered if he was mistaken about her death aura. But focusing again, there was no doubt about it: he could feel her life essence slipping away.

‘I don’t understand,’ Will muttered. He gently pulled back the sheet covering her, and held his hands over her, hovering a few inches above her skin and glowing with a soft golden light that illuminated the dark infirmary. Then, he let out a gasp of horror.

‘Poison!’ He scrambled to turn on the lights and immediately began rushing about, grabbing ambrosia, nectar and one of his pre-packed kits of bandages and other essentials.

‘It’s in the arrow wound,’ Will explained, taking a deep breath as he channeled a blast of healing energy into the afflicted spot. Meanwhile, Nico prepped a syringe with nectar, ready as soon as Will needed it.

For the next hour it was touch and go. But eventually, Will’s healing powers combined with several syringes of nectar and the application of an antibiotic cream Will himself had created, were enough to fully drain the poison from her body. The death aura was gone.

‘You saved her,’ Will whispered, awestruck, when they finally returned to their cots, reassured that Angie would make a full recovery after all. His bright blue eyes were alight with wonder, gazing at Nico like he was some kind of miracle.

‘No one but you could have known she was in danger. If you hadn’t been here tonight…by morning…’ His voice trailed off, but Nico knew exactly what Will was implying. _By morning, she probably would have been dead._ The thought of Will waking up to find that the patient he’d tried so hard to save had succumbed to a fatal, undiagnosed injury in the middle of the night, made Nico feel sick to his stomach. He knew how devastating it was for Will to lose a patient, and how much he blamed himself whenever it happened.

‘Nico, do you realise how incredible this is?’

‘I guess?’ Nico replied awkwardly. He wasn’t used to praise like this, and certainly wasn’t used to being gazed upon with such reverence.

‘I can’t believe it never occurred to me before how amazing you could be for the infirmary. I mean, I guess I didn’t really understand how your whole sensing death auras thing worked,’ Will rambled, ‘but now that I do…’ He paused, then reached out between their cots to grab Nico’s hand.

It reminded Nico suddenly of that moment atop Half-Blood Hill, during the war against Gaea, when Will had grabbed his hand to show him how he was still trembling after helping deliver baby Chuck. The spark of electricity that touch caused had been the first sign of his attraction to the handsome blonde healer.

‘Neeks?’ Will asked, smiling. ‘Would you consider becoming a proper part of the infirmary staff? Not rolling bandages or tidying up…but as an actual medic?’

‘You want…a child of the underworld working as a _medic_?’ Nico asked, incredulously.

Will nodded, unperturbed. His smile was so warm, so sincere, so beautiful. Nico knew he wouldn’t be able to say no, even if he wanted to - which he didn’t.

‘On one condition,’ he agreed, unable to hide his grin.

‘Anything,’ Will promised, grinning right back at him.

‘I don’t have to wear those stupid blue scrubs shirts.’

* * * * *

Working in the infirmary might not have been _fun_ , per se, but Nico enjoyed it. In the six months now that he’d been a fully-fledged member of the infirmary staff, he’d grown to feel comfortable there, and pleased to be made to feel so welcome by the other Apollo campers, along with the handful of Athena kids who helped out on occasion.

Arriving for his shift, he ducked into the back office to quickly change into the new black scrubs shirt Will had gifted him for their six month anniversary as boyfriends. ( _Boyfriends!_ He still wasn’t quite used to that.) His hair was getting longer now, so he tied it back into a short ponytail to keep it off his face while he worked, and he was just scrubbing his hands when he sensed Will approach from behind.

‘Ah, there you are, Dr di Angelo,’ Will greeted him with a teasing grin, then leaned in for a kiss. ‘The shirt looks good on you, see?’

Nico glanced up at their reflections in the mirror over the sink. Will was wearing a scrubs shirt too, of course: a light blue one that complimented his eyes, with _“Will Solace, Head Medic”_ embroidered over the chest pocket. Nico glanced down at the embroidery on his own matching black one, and smiled.

_Nico di Angelo, Diagnostics._

He leaned up and gave Will a tender peck on the cheek, and smiled.

‘You’re right. It does.’


End file.
